Overview of Power Electronics for

Hybrid Vehicles

P. T. Krein

Grainger Center for Electric Machinery and Electromechanics

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
April 2007
 Overview
• Quick history
• Primary power electronics content
• Secondary power electronics content
• Review of power requirements
• Architectures
• Voltage selection and tradeoffs
• Impact of plug-in hybrids
• SiC and other future trends
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 Quick History
• Hybrids date to 1900 (or sooner).
• U.S. patents date to 1907 (or sooner).
• By the late 1920s, hybrid drives were the
“standard” for the largest vehicles.

www.freefoto.com www.hybridvehicle.org 3
 Quick History
• Revival for cars in
the 1970s.
• Power electronics
and drives reached
the necessary level
eands.caltech.edu
of development early
in the 1990s.
• Major push: DoE Hybrid
Electric Vehicle Challenge
events from 1992-2000. 4
 Quick History
• Battery technology reaches an adequate
level in late 1990s.
• Today: Li-ion nearly ready.

• Power electronics:
thyristors before 1980.
• MOSFET attempts in
the 1980s, expensive (GM Sunraycer)
• IGBTs since about 1990. 5
 Primary Power Electronics Content
• Main traction drive inverter (bidirectional)
• Generator machine rectifier
• Battery or dc bus interface

• Charger in the case

of a plug-in

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 Traction Inverter
• IGBT inverter fed from high-voltage bus.
• Field-oriented induction machine control or
PM synchronous control.

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 Traction Inverter
• Voltage ratings: ~150% or so of bus rating
• Currents: linked to power requirements
• The configuration is
inherently bidirectional
relative to the dc bus.
• Field-oriented controls
provide for positive or
negative torque.
C. C. Chan, “Sustainable Energy and Mobility, and Challenges 8
to Power Electronics,” Proc. IPEMC 2006.
 Generator Rectifier
• If a generator is present, it can employ
either passive or active rectifier
configurations.
• Power levels likely to be lower than
traction inverter.
• Converter can be unidirectional,
depending on architecture.

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 Battery/Bus Interface
• In some architectures, the battery
connection is indirect or has high-power
interfaces.
– Ultracapacitor configurations
– Boost converters for higher voltage
– Braking energy protection

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 Battery/Bus Interface
• With boost converter, the extra dc-dc step-
up converter must provide 100% power
rating.
• With ultracapacitors, the ratings are high
but represent peaks, so the time can be
short.

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 Secondary Power Electronics Content
• Major accessory drives
– Power steering
– Coolant pumps
– Air conditioning
• Conventional 12 V
content and interfaces
• On-board battery
management
12
 Major Accessories
• Approach 1 kW each.
• Typically operating as a separate motor
drive.
• Power steering one of the drivers toward
42 V.
• Air conditioning tends to be the highest
power – run from battery bus?

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 Conventional 12 V Content
• About 1400 W needed for interface
between high-voltage battery and 12 V
system.
• Nearly all available hybrids use a separate
12 V battery.
• Some merit to bidirectional configuration,
although this is not typical.

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 On-Board Battery Management
• Few existing systems use active on-board
battery management.
• Active management appears to be
essential for lithium-ion packs.
• Active management is also required as
pack voltages increase.
• A distributed power electronics design is
suited for this purpose.
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 Power Requirements
• Energy and power in a vehicle must:
– Move the car against air resistance.
– Overcome energy losses in tires.
– Overcome gravity on slopes.
– Overcome friction and other losses.
– Deliver any extra power for accessories, air
conditioning, lights, etc.

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 Power Requirements
• Typical car, 1800 kg loaded, axle needs:
– 4600 N thrust to move up a 25% grade.
– 15 kW on level road at 65 mph.
– 40 kW to maintain 65 mph up a 5% grade.
– 40 kW to maintain 95 mph on level road.
– Peak power of about 110 kW to provide 0-60
mph acceleration in 10 s or less.
– 110 kW at 137 mph.
• Plus losses and
accessories.
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 Power Requirements
• Traction power in excess of 120 kW.
• Current requirements tend to govern
package size.
• If this is all electric:
– Requires about 500 A peak motor current for
a 300 V bus.
– About 300 A for a 500 V bus.
• Generator power on the order of 40 kW.
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 Power Requirements
• For plug-in charging, rates are limited by
resource availability.
• Residential:
– 20 A, 120 V outlet, about 2 kW maximum.
– 50 A, 240 V outlet, up to 10 kW.
• Commercial:
– 50 A, 208 V, up to 12 kW.
• All are well below traction drive ratings.
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 Architectures
• Series configuration, probably favored for
plug-in hybrid.
– Engine drives a generator, never an axle.
– Traction inverter rating is 100%.
– Generator rating approximately 30%.
– Charger rating 10% or less.

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 Architectures
• Parallel configurations, probably favored
for fueled vehicles.
– Inverter rating pre-selected as a
fraction of total traction
requirement, e.g. 30%.
– Similar generator rating
if it is needed at all.

Source: Mechanical
Engineering Magazine
online, April 2002.

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 Voltage Selection
• Lower voltage is better for batteries.
• Higher voltage reduces conductor size and
harness complexity.
• Extremes are not useful.
• < 60 V, “open” electrical system with
limited safety constraints.
• > 60 V, “closed” electrical system with
interlocks and safety mechanisms.
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 Voltage Selection
• Traction is not supported well at low
voltage. Example: 50 V, 100 kW, 2000 A.
• Current becomes the issue: make it low.
• Diminishing returns above 600 V or so.
• 1000 V+ probably too high for 100 kW+
consumer product.
• Basic steps governed by semiconductors.

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 Voltage Selection
• 600 V IGBTs support dc bus levels to 325
V or so. (EV1 and others.)
• 1200 V IGBTs less costly per VA than 600
V devices. Support bus levels to 600 V +.
• Higher IGBT voltages – but what values
are too high in this context?

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 Voltage Selection
• First hybrid models used the battery bus
directly.
• Later versions tighten the
package with a voltage
boost converter.
• Double V: ½ I, ½ copper,
etc.

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 Voltage Tradeoffs
• Boost converter has substantial power
loss; adds complexity.
• Cost tradeoff against active battery
management.
• Can inverter current be
limited to 100 A or less?

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 Voltage Tradeoffs
• More direct high battery voltage is likely to
have advantages over boost converter
solution.
• Battery voltages to 600 V or even 700 V
have been considered.
• Within the capabilities of 1200 V IGBTs.

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 Impact of Plug-In Hybrids
• Need sufficient on-board storage to
achieve about 40 miles of range.
• This translates to energy recharge needs
of about 6 kW-h each day.
• For a 120 V, 12 A
(input) charger with
90% efficiency, this
supports a 5 h recharge.
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 Impact of Plug-In Hybrids
• The charger needs to be bidirectional.
• This is a substantial cost add.
Input switches Output switches

Cbus

LOAD
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 Impact of Plug-In Hybrids
• Single-phase version.

Output switches

Cbus

LOAD

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 Impact of Plug-In Hybrids
• Easy to envision single-phase 1 kW car-
mount chargers.
• Bidirectional chargers could double as
inverter accessories.
• Notice that utility control is plausible via
time shifting.

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 Impact of Plug-In Hybrids
• Home chargers above 10 kW are unlikely,
even based on purely electric vehicles.
• Obvious limits on bidirectional flow that
limit capability as distributed storage.

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 SiC and Future Trends
• Power electronics in general operate up to
100°C ambient.
• HEV applications: liquid cooling, dedicated
loop.
• Would prefer to be on engine loop.

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 SiC and Future Trends
• Si devices can operate to about 200°C
junction temperature.
• SiC and GaN offer alternatives to 400°C.
• Both are high bandgap devices that
support relatively high voltage ratings.

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 SiC and Future Trends
• More subtle but immediate advantage:
Schottky diodes, now available in SiC for
voltages up to 1200 V, have lower losses
than Si P-i-N diodes.

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 Future Trends
• Fully integrated low-voltage drives.
• Higher integration levels for inverters
ranging up to 200 kW.
• Better battery management.

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Thank You!

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